Selbach's 2005 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese exhibits the classic ripe apple and vanilla of its site, offers invigorating notes of apple skin, brown spices, and lime peel along with decisively wet stone slatiness on the palate, and finishes with a lovely persistence of pure apple, brown spices, sweet florality, and vanilla. “For me, 2005 is a singular vintage in my career,” says Johannes Selbach, “in that it is ripe, multi-faceted, and has excellent acidity. You can pick any of the other recent classics – 1975, 1990 ... . Each of the benchmark years is great in its way, however here you have a combination that is fun to drink now, ten years from now, and in thirty years as well. It remains to be seen, but I think 2005 is in another league.” Readers will indeed be hard pressed this year to find another address with this many consistently outstanding wines, and when has there ever been a more diverse and at the same time magnificent array of Auslesen? In their upper reaches, the Selbach 2005s seem – like Zilliken's, but in their own unique way – to chart a trajectory beyond the normal course for their vintage. The harvest here extended from mid-October to mid-November.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300